THEATER REVIEW: Gracyn Mix is a lumnious Juliet

Wednesday

Aug 2, 2017 at 4:43 PMAug 2, 2017 at 4:44 PM

By Iris Fanger, Correspondent

BOSTON - “Romeo and Juliet,” is one of William Shakespeare’s most famous plays because the story of young star-crossed lovers punished for the sins of their elders is a constant family refrain across the ages. The prevailing theme of the production that blazes into life on the outdoor stage of the Boston Common is the violence born of the conflicts of ancient feuds and the injustice of precious lives wasted.

Under the direction of Allegra Libonati, no emotions stay hidden. When the sons of the Capulets and the Montagues meet by chance in the squares of Verona, they taunt each other, draw swords and draw blood. Romeo and Juliet fall madly, passionately in love at first sight, before they even know each other’s name. Juliet’s father grows insanely angry at his daughter’s refusal to marry the young Paris and threatens to disown her. Libonati has set the pace of the action at a runaway gallop – one scene forming before the last one has finished – as if there is no way to hold back the inevitable outcome.

Although this society is ruled by men, despite the casting of a woman as the Princess of Verona, rather than a Prince as indicated by Shakespeare, the luminous center of the production is Juliet, portrayed by Gracyn Mix, a newcomer to theater in Boston. She is at once lovely and innocent, and makes us believe that she is only 14 years old and in love for the first time. Mix is expert at wheeling wildly between giddy joy and terror, taking the viewer along with her as she considers the horrors of the choice she must make.

John Zdrojeski makes Romeo into a convincing teenager in love with love. He turns a bit too overwrought in the scene following Tybalt’s murder, even for the broad acting style required for such a large audience. However, as he matures, he takes back the role. There are plenty of long kisses between the lovers, but what’s missing is the erotic charge of the wedding night, perhaps because the morning after scene is staged on the balcony, rather than in bed.

Other performers of special note in the generally excellent ensemble are Kario Marcel as the antic Mercutio, Ramona Lisa Alexander as Juliet’s nurse, and Fred Sullivan, Jr. as Lord Capulet. I guarantee you’ll not forget Marcel’s rendering of Mercutio’s “Queen Mab” speech, missing not a poetic beat of Shakespeare’s description of the “fairies’ midwife.” The actors are to be commended for speaking Shakespeare’s lines as if they were everyday conversations, as alive on the streets of contemporary Boston as in ancient Verona.

Equiano Mosien turns Friar Laurence into a warrior monk, rather than the usual passive churchman, in keeping with the fiery behavior of the other characters. He also makes a lively Chorus, speaking the verses of the prologue to the play.

This high-spirited glimpse of life in Renaissance Italy is enhanced by Neil Fortin’s luscious period costumes against the crumbled arches of the city’s walls completed by the all-important balcony, designed by Julia Noulin-Merat. The characters frequently spill out onto two platforms positioned in front of the stage, and enter and exit by a ramp that extends into the audience. Fight director, Angie Jepson has staged a brawling street scene to open the play and establish the tone, ending the first act in another, when Mercutio is murdered by Tybalt, who then is killed by Romeo to revenge his kinsman’s death.

Libonati brings ghosts on stage to reinforce the image of past violence that haunts the actions of the characters. Mercutio’s death curse, “A plague on both your houses,” dipped in the mingled blood of the Montagues and Capulets, reverberates through the second act until the lights come down on the tragic ending, when the families are finally united in mutual sorrow.